So many conflicting things being written, said, insinuated...this one from Brett McMurphy on ESPN.com

Last paragraph is the key one.

"The new league, yet to be formed, is expected to have 12-to-14 members. The most likely candidates to join the Catholic schools, sources have told ESPN, are Butler, Xavier, Creighton, Dayton, Saint Louis, Richmond and VCU."

McMurphy has been the best guy in the realignment talk for years. ESPN poached him from CBS because of his actual ability to break stories. No one is always right, but outside of actual press conferences announcing something, he's about as close as you can get to the real story. Other guys seem to have AD level sources. McMurphy has president and TV exec level.

14 seems unlikely on the surface, at least at first, but the more I think about it, the better the numbers look. Every game will be on TV, be it ESPN, FOX, or regional, whether it's a 10, 12, or 14 team league. Assuming 12 and 14 gets you a 16 game schedule, that's 32 more league games to sell. Conferences only have control over so many non-conference games, I think, but 2 more teams gives you around 30 more chances for non-conference exposure. Exposure builds hype and audiences for conference games, look no further than adding Butler and VCU and what their OOC success did this year. Heck, 16 could even be possible in the not too distant future, although I'm not sure if Gonzaga is ever going to be a serious candidate, and I doubt they would ever go 16 without them.

The difference is significant. Maybe not enough to go to 14, that's up to the TV partners and their checkbooks, but certainly enough to investigate.

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Sure, I've been called a xenophobe, but the truth is, I'm not. I honestly just feel that America is the best country and the other countries aren't as good. That used to be called patriotism.

The A10 should remain better than those three conferences and believe the C7 will be 12 teams. No way both Richmond and VCU go to the C7.

Of course there is a way. TV markets are virtually meaningless for this conference, because the new FOX networks already have distribution nationwide on every major outlet. Fox Sports 1 will start in 80 million homes and Fox Sports 2 will be in nearly 40 million on a sports tier. They are merely picking schools that can draw eyeballs to FOX 1 and 2, have some form of ESPN footprint, and can sell the rest of their games regionally. All seven of the schools McMurphy mentions fit the bill.

The thing that could possibly hold VCU back is being a public school who no doubt is/will be having discussions about football some day real soon. That still may not matter, because there are a plethora of basketball schools to pick from should VCU one day start FBS football. Schools like Wichita, George Mason, Northern Iowa, Davidson, Northeastern and others aren't schools you start a big time league with, but they are schools you can turn to easily once your league is already established as a major TV presence. VCU would help you do that, even if you know they could bounce in 5 years.

In reality, if 14 happens, the only possible founding spoilers outside of McMurphy's 14 named schools would be Notre Dame (unlikely, at least for 5-7 years) and Gonzaga (likely just too far away). Villanova is just way too territorial to let St Joe in.

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Sure, I've been called a xenophobe, but the truth is, I'm not. I honestly just feel that America is the best country and the other countries aren't as good. That used to be called patriotism.

If the A10 gets completely decimated do we grab other schools to fill the void or does everyone just retreat to other conferences that make more geographical sense? If UMass also leaves for the Big East then we have SBU, SJU, La Salle, URI, Fordham and Duquesne, and GW who are we going to lure away from lower conferences to play in that league? Maybe if we can keep Richmond and Dayton/VCU then we could still have a decent conference but its not I say everyone goes to the MAAC or CAA whoever will take us...

I feel that this uncertainty has to be part of what is making recruiting at Bona's tough. Its hard to sell kids on playing in the A10 if we don't know how much longer the A10 will exist and we likely wont be a part of the C7. Its really disappointing how its all about the pay checks. Everyone's gotta sell their should in college athletics these days

Personally, I like the idea of a larger 14 to 16 team league. Depending upon the members, it can be more national in scope with the the attendant publicity benefits; it brings more markets and time zones into play; it will probably be very stable in terms of membership; puts the conference on a better footing in terms of dealing with the 'big' conferences,and would probably help come selection Sunday. That said, unless the networks insist upon the larger conference, I have a hard time seeing it go as high as 12 teams initially. I don't believe the C7 plus 3 want the pie cut into more pieces. One thing that may work against VCU being included is that they are a public school. I don't know how much this enters the thinking, but having a public school opens up the books to more scrutiny and comment. Every other school that has been mentioned as a possible member is private.

"The new league, yet to be formed, is expected to have 12-to-14 members. The most likely candidates to join the Catholic schools, sources have told ESPN, are Butler, Xavier, Creighton, Dayton, Saint Louis, Richmond and VCU."

While the remnants of the Big East are staring at their next television contract pushing them into the mid major abyss and NBC Sports Network, the breakaway basketball schools known as the "Catholic 7" are pushing closer towards an impressive contract with Fox Sports according to Andy Katz and Brett McMurphy of ESPN.

In spite of football's dominance in college sports, the Catholic 7 led basketball league appears to be worth more than the full rights to the conference they're leaving behind.

From McMurphy & Katz:

"NBC Sports Network verbally offered the Big East between $20 million and $23 million per year for six years to acquire the league's media rights, sources told ESPN."

"The Catholic 7 schools -- DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova -- haven't formed a new league yet, but Fox Sports has been the leader for their media rights, sources said."

"Fox Sports' offer would be worth between $30 million and $40 million per year depending on how many teams are in the league, sources said."

The networks bidding have set the market and placed the value of the Catholic 7 basketball league above the football AND basketball rights of the remaining Big East.

It has to be a staggering blow to the remnants of the Big East, as if they haven't been beaten from pillar to post throughout realignment already. It only cements the notion that the Big East is by far the biggest loser in conference realignment, seeing the potential value for each school drop from $13.8 million for full members to just $2 million per year per school.

Fox has been the frontrunner for the Catholic 7 rights since the beginning stages of negotiations while NBC has long been rumored as a home for the Big East as they look to get any significant foothold in the college game.

For both networks, the reported landing spots make sense. Fox already has BCS caliber football with the Pac 12 and Big XII rights. With all the other rights they have to NASCAR, football, soccer, etc. they don't need the inventory of Tulane vs Memphis football. They're much less desperate for content than NBC and can pick and choose what they want.

If the Catholic 7 does add Butler, Xavier, Dayton, Creighton, and possibly even VCU it would form a basketball league that could rival the major conferences in America.